LiteOn today introduced the MUX line of "entry-level" M.2 PCI-Express SSDs in the M.2-2280 form-factor. Available in 128 GB and 256 GB capacities, the drives feature PCI-Express 3.0 x2 host interface, and take advantage of the NVMe protocol. They combine Phison PS5008-E8 controllers with Toshiba BiCS3 3D-TLC NAND flash memory.

The 128 GB variant offers sequential transfer rates of up to 1500 MB/s reads, with up to 450 MB/s writes; up to 91,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 110,000 IOPS 4K random writes; while the 256 GB variant is slightly faster, offering up to 1600 MB/s sequential reads, up to 850 MB/s sequential writes, up to 145,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 140,000 IOPS 4K random writes. Both variants are backed by 3-year warranties.

It is sort of pointless for Z170 or newer systems, which have 3.0 x 4 M.2 slots that can run much faster drives. My Asus Z97 Deluxe board only has a PCIe 2.0 x 2 slot (only one or two Asrock boards had a 3.0 x 4 port on Z97, the rest were 2.0 x 2). But if priced low enough, still faster than SATA SSDs, and great for the few laptops that have the correct M.2 port.

Well, it might be ok for cheaper laptops, but would you buy this? I doubt the price difference will be big enough to make it competitive compared with PCIe 3.0 x4 drives. The performance isn't really competitive even against something like the Intel 600p. Sure, the 256GB version claims to have slightly higher write speeds and IOPS, but let's wait and see some tests, as I doubt it'll deliver on the claimed numbers as LiteOn seems to be over promising and under delivering when it comes to SSDs.

Just look at what they've done with Plextor in the past year. I have an M8PeG SSD and it doesn't deliver the promised numbers, but now Plextor has the M8SeG which they claimed was going to be faster (they've changed that since then), yet it under delivers in every test and it's much slower than the M8PeG. Despite this, the M8Se range is more expensive than the M8Pe range, which makes no sense.

I used to be a big Plextor fan, but Liteon is ruining the brand by delivering a lot of mediocre products.

EarthDog said:Well, that is the thing, isn't it... we have no idea what the price will be, yet, you have disparaged it. Performance is right in the ballpark of the 600p as well.

As far as performance, reviews will tell that tale. :)

Who wouldn't (look forward)?

Uhm, have you tried using a search engine?

The 256GB drive is about $110 not including tax and around $130-135 including tax in the shops where I've found it for sale.

Why would you not spend $18 more on Amazon (based on the non tax price) for a Samsung 960 EVO, or $12 less for a WD Black, or even $8.50 more for the Plextor M8Pe (which is made by the same company btw)?
Even in the same shops, you can get the Plextor M8Pe for around $30 more, including tax.

As I said, another pointless product, as you get so much of a performance reduction that it's not worth the cost difference if you're going to get an NVMe drive, unless possibly it's for a notebook and this uses a lot less power.